An independent magazine of dark fantasy and sword and sorcery, illuminated in the style of a Renaissance woodcut, featuring grim tales inspired by Robert E. Howard, Tanith Lee, and Arthurian myth.
This campaign funds two issues of Old Moon Quarterly: #9 and #10. This includes an Arthurian special issue!
Cover art for OMQ Issue 9, by Robin Harris
Old Moon Quarterly is a print and digital magazine of dark fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery, short fiction. We publish weird, gothic, bloody tales. Stories of rusted knights and crumbling kingdoms, of giant-slaying mammoths and cannibal cavemen, of god-slaying heroines and lovelorn swords. Think Tanith Lee meets Robert E. Howard—or Gene Wolfe, by way of Dark Souls.
Backing this campaign means you receive:
Two issues in our handy 6x9 inch paperback size, and/or in DRM-free epub and pdf digital formats.
With 40,000+ words of original fiction per issue.
Stories by John Langan, E. Catherine Tobler, James Enge, R.L. Summerling, and more!
A special issue themed around dark Arthuriana.
Hand-drawn illustrations in the style of Renaissance woodcuts, by M. Sabbione.
Hand-drawn illuminations, inspired by medieval books of hours, and William Morris’ Kelmscott Press, by Mark Jarrell.
Bookmarks featuring beautiful art (also by Mark Jarrell).
We were raised on a diet of Warhammer, George R.R. Martin, and heavy metal: we love spiky armor and mad gods—and we love reading about them getting hit with axes!
A slightly more serious answer: we like the complexity and tragedy of dark fantasy. We love the outsider heroes common to sword-and-sorcery, and we love reading a good action sequence—doubly so when it's paired with strong characters and a weird world. Sword-and-sorcery is all about low-stakes adventure, eldritch horror, and gritty, violent action. It's about people seeking freedom in a hostile world. No chosen ones, no saviors: just muscle and steel, hedged against the inevitable dark.
Okay, but why an Arthurian issue? What does that even mean?
Well, it means watch the film Excalibur, read Idylls of the King, listen to some Iron Void; it means a doomed king and a cursed lady; it means knights who, despite the fall of night, keep the flame of chivalry burning in their heart.
Arthurian literature—sometimes called the Matter of Britain—refers to a tradition of storytelling centered around the court of Arthur, king of the Britons. It often involves the wizard Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, the sorceress Morgan le Fay, and the fall of Arthur at Camlann field, where he and his bastard son Mordred die by each other’s hand. Arthurian literature is one of the greatest, and longest-lasting, traditions within fantasy literature. The very first Arthurian works were published almost 1,000 years ago, in medieval France.
Arthurian literature is fundamentally about honor, justice, and tragedy. It’s about aiming high, and failing—but failing knowing that at least, for at least a moment, you upheld something beautiful. It’s also about knights killing dragons, dragons killing ladies, and ladies killing knights (and all combinations thereof). But it’s mostly the tragedy thing.
Each issue will feature beautiful covers created by Robin Harris and Teresa Ramos, as well as Renaissance-inspired interior illustrations and illuminations hand-drawn by Marco Sabbione, Karmazid, and Mark Jarrell.
Robin Harris's cover for OMQ #9
Example artwork by Karmazid and Teresa Ramos
Examples of artwork by Marco Sabbione and Mark Jarrell
These issues will arrive in DRM-free digital formats, both epub and pdf, and in a comfortably sized 6 inch by 9 inch paperback (the standard "American" trade paperback book size). They're printed on a sturdy, cream-colored paper, more like a regular book than the thinner, flimsier paper you might normally associate with magazines.
These two issues will include stories commissioned from World Fantasy Award finalist (and creator of the famed Morlock the Maker) James Enge, from OMQ veteran ("Corpse Wax," in OMQ #6) R.L. Summerling, from Hugo and Nebula (among others!) finalist E. Catherine Tobler, and from the Stoker Award winning author of The Fisherman, John Langan (who will be, we are told, writing the prequel to his novellete featured in OMQ #8).
The issues will also feature works purchased during our upcoming open submission windows.
Most of the reward tiers are self-explanatory—digital, or print/digital, editions of issues 9 and 10. But maybe you're new to Backerkit?
HOW TO USE BACKERKIT
Don't worry, it's easy. Think of BK as Kickstarter, or Gamefound, or any other sort of crowdfunding platform.
1. CREATE AN ACCOUNT
If you've ever supported a Kickstarter that used Backerkit for fulfillment, like our own 2024 campaign, then you should already have an account.
2. SELECT A PLEDGE LEVEL
Explore the campaign and, if you'd like to support us, pick a tier!
3. INCLUDE ADD-ONS
More items become unlocked as stretch goals are reached! You can add Add-ons to your existing pledge through the campaign.
4. CHECK OUT
5. MANAGE YOUR PLEDGE
If the campaign is successfully funded, you'll be prompted to fill in your shipping information. You'll also have another chance to select any Add-ons you might want.
Our base funding level will guarantee the production and publication of Old Moon Quarterly's issues 9 and 10. Additional funds raised will go towards more art, more pay for our contributing authors and artists, and to some fun add-ons like art prints!
$12,500: Additional Art: Each issue will receive additional on-page artwork.
$14,000: Author Raise: All authors will receive a pay raise to 9 cents a word (USD).
$16,500: Artist Raise: All artists will receive an additional 15% raise on their fee.
$20,500: Art prints: Every print backer will receive a high-quality print of one of the artworks featured in the magazine.
$23,000+: Author and Artist Raises: Every milestone we hit after this point will continue raising the payrate for authors and artists, with no limit.
All print-tier backers and higher will receive an exclusive bookmark with art by the illustrious Mark Jarrell.
All print-tier backers and higher in the first 48 hours will receive a unique bookmark in addition to the one above.
Add-ons:
Previous Issues: Catch up on Old Moon Quarterly! Issues 1-8 are available in digital and softcover formats. Our Year One Anthology, collecting issues 1-4, is available in hardcover as well, and includes unique coverart by Senkai Yami.
Our previous issues, once more!
Our year one anthology in hardcover, with art by Senkai Yami
Apparel: Read in style with our Old Moon t-shirts! Available in two styles, and made from comfortable, heavy-duty cotton, each featuring artwork by Senkai Yami.
During the fulfillment process, BackerKit will calculate any shipping that may be required when you fill out your delivery address.
Shipping costs will not be assessed and billed until then! You are only being charged for your pledge amount at this time. We hope this helps to keep the cost of shipping down due to current fluctuations in domestic and international shipping costs.
To further keep shipping costs down, we will be shipping both issues together. Back issues purchased through our Add-Ons will also be shipped with those two new issues for the same reason.
Thanks to everything we learned publishing our past issues, we're confident about producing issues #9 and 10 in a timely manner, and at the high level of quality our readers have come to expect.
We've successfully funded our previous campaign for 2023, and delivered those issues (despite some setbacks with authors and printing) in 2024.
To further mitigate risk, we’ve brought on a crowdfunding and fulfillment professional, Sara McHenry (https://www.saramchenry.com), who did excellent work for us with our previous campaign. Since 2013, she’s helped her clients raise over $3.5 million in crowdfunding money for their creative projects. Her specialties include setting budgets and timelines, structuring reward tiers, working with vendors, shipping logistics, and motivating the unmotivated creator.
Should any challenges arise with things we have no control over, such as supply chain issues, our backers will receive timely, detailed updates on the situation.
